The musical you
will either love or hate
is packing them in at the
Hippodrome, which is
celebrating its centenary
year.

Theres
additional cause for
celebration, because
11-year-old Emma Hopkins,
who lives near Bakewell,
is cast in the coveted
leading role and
its her first
professional
appearance.

She is terrific
as little orphan Annie,
belting out the big
numbers like a seasoned
trouper.

But this Annie
is no wilting flower. She
is a tough child who
tries to escape several
times from the dreadful
childrens home in
downtown New York, run by
the horrendous Miss
Hannigan.

This is where
the talented Su Pollard
comes into her own, as
the gin-swigging,
harridan who hates
children. In a
beautifully-judged
performance, she sings,
dances and makes you
laugh all at the same
time. If shed been
born in America she would
be a big Broadway star.
As it is, shes
still a joy.

James Smillie is
one of the best Daddy
Warbucks Ive seen,
and Louise English is
charming as Grace,
Annies friend and
Warbucks love
interest.

This sentimental
Cinderella story may not
be everybodys cup
of sugar, but its
full of singalong songs
like Hard Knock Life,
Youre Never Fully
Dressed Without A Smile
and, of course, Tomorrow.

Its
saccharine-sweet at
times, but the audience
still loved its feelgood
message, and Ill be
very surprised if you
dont leave the
theatre singing The Sun
Will Come Out Tomorrow
endlessly all the way
home.

December
18, 2004: Annie @
Christmas

After 16 weeks
of touring the UK;
visiting Glasgow,
Nottingham, Londonderry,
York, Torquay, Liverpool,
Birmingham and many other
cities and towns along
the way, Annie is
now in residency, for
Christmas 2004, in Ashton
Under Lyne.

The
year began with Su
starring as the Wicked
Queen in Snow White
at the Hexagon in
Reading. This year also
saw the release of the
second Hi-De-Hi!
DVD/VHS box set... Su
starring as Ellen Small
in the nationwide tour of
A Happy Medium...
the publication of David
Croft and Jimmy Perry
autobiographies (both
including Su
anecdotes)... the DVD
release of Penny
Crayon, voiced by Su.

Hi-De-Hi!,
Gimme Gimme Gimme,
and Stars Reunited
all enjoyed reshowings on
UK television this year.
While a new edition of Comedy
Connections focused
on Hi-De-Hi!... Su
was the face of Home-Tek
all through the Summer...
and she was interviewed
in numerous magazines
(many of which can be
found in our news
Archive).

Oh Doctor
Beeching! was finally
released on DVD in
2004... and Su, once
again, toured the UK
playing Miss Hannigan in Annie
The Musical... She
received rave reviews for
the role, and is spending
this festive season, as
the wicked orphan owner,
enthralling children of
all ages at the Tamesdide
Hippodrome in Ashton
Under Lyne.

Roll on 2005!

December
18, 2004: Su in 2005

2004 has been
another busy and
successful year for Su,
but what does 2005 hold?


Su will, once again,
voice the character of
Noisy for another batch
of Little Robots episodes.
This children's series
has been hugely
successful.

 The
Australian arm of the BBC
have asked Su to do some
presenting for their
network. While Down Under
Su will also help promote
Hi-De-Hi!, via
interviews and trailers,
as the show is currently
being re-aired there.

 Su hopes
to continue developing
her one-woman-show. The
show has the working
title of Lady In
Waiting. "I'm
doing some sketches about
my career, playing myself
and Shaney (Paul Shane)
and Ruth Madoc with
wigs," revealed Su.

 There are
talks of overseas tours
of A Happy Medium,
in which Su starred
earlier in 2004,
including a visit to
Australia. Su is very
keen to reprise her role
as Ellen Small: "It
was a great vehicle for a
female performer and I
was only off stage for
five minutes - apart from
the interval! - for the
whole show. It was a
marathon but it was
marvellous.

 Sleuth
Su? - Su has had meetings
regarding a pilot for a
sitcom about an eccentric
private investigator.
"A bit like Miss
Marple," says Su.

 Plus,
there could be yet more
of the dastdardly Miss
Hannigan!

December
18, 2004: Su on CHRISTMAS
TV

Little Robots
: CBeebies - Saturday
18th December : 2.35pmSweet
Dreams, Scary. Stop-frame
animation about Tiny and
his Little Robot friends,
who create their own
world from the scrapheap
on which they find
themselves abandoned.
Scary iss so tired he
falls asleep right in the
middle of one of his
magic tricks. Tiny finds
out that he has had
difficulty sleeping, so
he and Noisy vow to help.Little
Robots : CBeebies -
Sunday 19th December -
2.35pmBy
Myself. Stop-frame
animation about Tiny and
his Little Robot friends,
who create their own
world from the scrapheap
on which they find
themselves abandoned.
Stripy wants to go
fishing on his own, but
the other Little Robots
want to come along.

This latest
touring version of the
much-loved musical
'Annie' last seen a year
ago arrived in Birmingham
prior to its Christmas
engagement at the
Tameside Hippodrome,
Ashton-under-Lyne.

The local
children from the Betty
Fox Stage School clearly
enjoyed every minute of
the show and were a
sparkling group and very
popular with the
audience. However, the
sound was rather
indistinct during the
opening scene and
occasionally at other
times too for various
members of the
cast.

Lively and
well orchestrated

The music was
lively, well
orchestrated, filling the
entire theatre with all
the much-loved numbers to
the delight of the
good-sized audience.

Although
director Chris Colby got
from his cast a wonderful
team effort and this
really is one of those
shows where everyone
works, Act 1 appeared at
times somewhat slow paced
particularly when the
dialogue did not keep the
attention of the younger
members of the audience.

In comparison
Act 2 was fast paced from
the start and retained
everyone's attention
right up to the rousing
and well-received finale.

Choreography
spot on

The choreography
by David Kort was spot
on, making the production
numbers big and the
individual performances
tight.

The staging
itself was bright, well
decorated and captured
nicely the opulence of
New York society and the
squalor and poverty of
the orphanage and
streets.

At last night's
performance talented
Stacey Hunt played the
orphaned Annie with
considerable stage
presence and she had a
strong singing voice too,
which made her
performance of 'Tomorrow'
memorable. She was also a
big hit with the
audience.

Zany stage
prescence

The ever-popular
Su Pollard played the
dreadful Miss Hannigan
with great flare and a
zany stage presence which
her many fans clearly
enjoyed. Su's hairstyle
and costumes were
somewhat madcap bringing
considerable
individuality to the
role, which she has now
made her own.

She was
excellent in the
production number 'Easy
Street' after which you
knew a sticky end was
only a matter of time
away!

James Smillie
gave all of his
considerable stage
experience to the role of
Daddy Warbucks producing
a powerful and animated
performance throughout.
He was excellent in 'NYC'
and 'I don't need
anything but you' and
built a good stage
rapport with Annie.

Charm and
sophistication

The role of
Grace Farrell, Daddy
Warbucks secretary was
played with both charm
and sophistication by
Louise English. Her
costumes and particularly
that for the ballroom
sequence were beautiful.

Matthew Hewitt
as Rooster Hannigan and
Melody Jones as Lily St
Regis were both well cast
as the villains of the
show and their
performance of 'Easy
Street' with Su Pollard
was the highlight of Act
1.

Christopher
Marlowe was impressive in
the character part of
F.D.R. Danny the dog
played by Sandy got
plenty of reaction from
the audience with a high
'aah' factor and many
wishing they had such a
well behaved pet at home.

The show is sure
to please and will no
doubt do well at the Alex
and continue to fill
theatres throughout the
country for many months
to come.

December
1, 2004: 'Annie' update

Su is in
Birmingham this week,
with Annie playing
at the Alexandra Theatre
in the Midlands
city.

Next
week sees the show at the
Empire Theatre in
Liverpool, before the
festive run at the
Tameside Hippodrome, in
Ashton Under Lyne,
begins.

December
1, 2004: 'Worcester
Evening News' - Su all
set to star in Annie

Su Pollard is
remembered by millions as
loveable cleaner Peggy in
the hugely popular
sit-com Hi-de-Hi.

But
she is a highly talented
and versatile actress
with numerous television
and stage credits.

Her most recent
role, for which she has
won rave reviews, is as
the Jack Daniels soaked
Miss Hannigan in one of
the most captivating and
delightful musicals of
all time - Annie.

Malvern Theatre
audiences will be able to
catch Su - who will be
joined by children from
the Cecilia Hall Dance
Centre in Malvern as the
orphans - when Annie hits
the stage between Monday,
November 8 to Saturday,
November 13.

Annie is the
story of 11-year-old
orphan Annie who has
spent a miserable
childhood in a New York
orphanage dreaming of
finding her real
parents.

Fate takes an
unexpected turn when
local billionaire
businessman Oliver
Warbucks (played by James
Smillie who appeared in
the West End's La Cage
aux Folles) decides to
host an orphan for the
Christmas season and
Annie is chosen as the
lucky candidate.

Annie and
Warbucks develop a
special bond and Warbucks
decides to adopt her
after first promising to
make every effort to find
her folks.

The announcement
of a $50,000 reward for
Annie's real parents to
come forward creates
chaos as hundreds of
people make their claim.
Miss Hannigan, her ex-con
brother Rooster and his
girlfriend Lily concoct
their own claim.

Warbucks'
adoption plans are
thwarted when Rooster and
Lily, in disguise, manage
to successfully bluff
all.

It seems as
though Annie's dream has
finally come true until
the impostors are
exposed.

Annie is sure to
warm the hearts of any
audience who will be
swept away by songs
including Tomorrow, It's
A Hard Knock Life and
You're Never Dressed
Without A Smile.

December
1, 2004: Su talks about
'Annie'

Su
is interviewed at BBC
Hereford & Worcester.

Please
click on the picture of
Su, as Miss Hannigan, to
visit the BBC website.

Actress
Su Pollard this week said
"hi-de-hi" to
Londonderry as she donned
the dressing gown and
whiskey whine of Miss
Hannigan in the musical
Annie.

This week, the
NWT caught up with the
actress as she prepared
to tread the boards at
the Millennium Forum.

It's been two
years since the popular
screen and stage actress
made a big impression on
the city.

And she says the
feeling was mutual.

Speaking in her
trademark up-north lilt,
she said: "I love
Derry. Everybody was so
fantastic the last time
we were here, so I've
been really looking
forward to coming back.

"The people
are marvellous, they come
up to you in the shops
and they make you feel so
welcome."

The former
Hi-De-Hi and You Rang
M'Lord comedy actress
added: "The
Millennium Forum is a
fantastic venue and a
great flagship for
Derry.

"For
anybody interested in the
arts and media, it's a
beautiful place."

Ms Pollard said
that her new role had
presented her with a
thrilling challenge and
added that the old
warning regarding working
with children had not
proved true.

"One of the
perks is that if you have
had a bad day you can
then take it out on them
as Miss Hannigan; get
your anger out," she
laughs.

"Only
joking, the kids are
really, really good
especially the ones in
Derry.

"The last
time, they knew
everything that was
taught to them."

Urging local
people to come and watch
the show, she added:
"I like it because
it's family
entertainment: you could
take your great
grandmother or your great
grandchild to see
it.

"The story
keeps moving and it's a
feel good show, a rags to
riches tale, and after
all that adversity it all
turns out well.

"Of course
the songs are brilliant
as well."

She adds:
"It's great value
for money. People have to
save up hard and that's
important that they go
away thinking, 'you know,
that was well worth
it'," she
said.

And Su added it
has been interesting
performing in the broken
heels of Annie's carer.

"She is
more human that most and
her position is very
relevant today - the
haves and the have-nots
still exist.

"Her life
has totally gone down the
pan and she's been left
looking after a stack of
kids."

And Su doesn't
mind a bit that she still
gets the Hi-De-Hi from
the public almost every
day.

"I'm just
so glad that it is still
going strong in people's
memories," she says.

November
4, 2004: 'IC Croydon/IC
Surrey Online' - High De
High

Su was recently
interviewed at 'IC
Croydon/IC Surrey
Online':

There's
just no stopping Su
Pollard. The actress, who
found fame with her
portrayal of drab chalet
maid Peggy in the sit-com
Hi De Hi!, takes on life
with such energetic
exuberance she's like an
express train leaving you
breathless in its wake.

She's got such a
warm, sunny personality
it is hard to imagine her
as drink-sodden harridan
Miss Hannigan, who rules
the orphanage with a rod
of iron in the musical
Annie.

But Su is now on
the road in her third
tour of the show and has
got all the niceties - or
rather the nastiness - of
the role down to a fine
art.

She explains how
she puts her heart and
soul into her big numbers
Little Girls and Easy
Street. "I really,
really feel it when I'm
singing Little Girls.
Some kids - not
necessarily the ones
playing the orphans - can
be a bit precocious and
you can really get it all
out of your system. I
love it when I have to
tear the arms and legs
off this doll. Then I
tear its head off. It's
marvellous!"

And after
experimenting with
various drinks, she has
settled on cold tea as
her alcohol substitute.
"I tried cola and
that's too gassy and the
wrong colour. Ginger beer
is the wrong colour too
but cold tea works. And
it has no bubbles. You
can't have Miss Hannigan
burping all night
--though I have done once
or twice. Timing them in
the right places can be
difficult but it does
make people laugh."

Su is a
practised comedienne who
got her first taste of
making others giggle when
she was just six and
played an angel in the
school nativity play.

While standing
on a box announcing the
arrival of the angel
Gabriel the lid gave way
and Su plummeted through
it. Everyone hooted with
laughter and from then on
she was hooked.

At 16, in her
home town of Nottingham,
she began singing in
charity shows and at
working men's clubs.
After an apprenticeship
at the local theatre she
made her debut in 1974 on
Hughie Green's talent
search Opportunity
Knocks.

But for Su it
didn't knock quite loudly
enough. Her rendition of
I'm Just a Girl Who Can't
Say No from Oklahoma! saw
her come second to a
singing Jack Russell dog.

Such an
indignity might have
deterred lesser mortals.
But Su went onwards and
upwards, appearing in an
assortment of stage shows
which included The Desert
Song, Rose Marie,
Godspell and Grease.

Her big chance
came with the role of
daffy Peggy Ollerenshaw
in the now classic Jimmy
Perry and David Croft BBC
comedy He De Hi!

When the holiday
camp comedy ended the
writing partnership
dreamed up a new series
set in the 20s, You Rang
M'Lord, in which Su
appeared as maid Ivy
alongside old Hi de Hi!
chums Paul Shane and
Jeffrey Holland.

In the mid 1990s
David Perry reunited some
of the team for Oh Mr
Beeching in which Su
played Ethel the box
office clerk and resident
gossip.

Su is known to
young TV viewers as the
voice of Penny Crayon and
Noisy in the animated
series Little Robots.

She's always
been happy to combine
television and stage
work. But having been
involved in some of TV's
finest comedies refuses
ever to settle for second
best. "At the moment
I'm discussing a pilot
for a sitcom about an
eccentric private
investigator a bit like
Miss Marple," she
gushes. "But if a
script is not good I
won't entertain it. I
don't want to do
something mediocre. I'm
not from the school of
thought that anything
will do. You know me, I'm
a bit like Pick & Mix
at Woolworths: I like
doing a bit of this and a
bit of that."

She's committed
to appearing in Annie for
several months, including
a Christmas season in
Manchester instead of her
usual panto, but is
talking about dusting
down her one-woman show
again sometime soon and
touring it to studio
venues round about.
"It's called Lady in
Waiting at the moment.
It's more than just
singing and chatting. I'm
doing some sketches about
my career, playing myself
and Shaney (Paul Shane)
and Ruth Madoc with
wigs," she explains.

Another recent
project which suited Su's
zany personality was a
comedy called A Happy
Medium in which she
portrayed a latter-day
Madame Arcati. "I
really enjoyed that. It
was a great vehicle for a
female performer and I
was only off stage for
five minutes - apart from
the interval! - for the
whole show. It was a
marathon but it was
marvellous. I thought to
myself if I can learn all
those lines in a
fortnight I can do
anything!"

It's on the
cards that Su might
return to the role.
"It's got a real
shelf-life. It's new and
it needs a bit of
tweaking but it would be
great for a summer
season. I'd love to do it
again as it's got so much
potential."

For now Su is
thoroughly enjoying
breaking that old showbiz
law which dictates you
should never act with
children or animals.

As horrid Miss
Hannigan she shares the
stage with both - a new
bunch of orphans each
week and a dog which has
been known to refuse to
make its grand entrance
so that the human actors
were forced to move
swiftly on to the next
scene.

Su, 54, single
again after her divorce
from husband Peter, has
no children of her own
but loves acting
alongside a new bunch of
little girls each week.
"I get new orphans
each Monday. Most of them
are marvellous. Our
choreographer goes on
ahead to drill them and
they have rehearsed the
routines three or four
times a week with their
dancing schools.
Sometimes I get carried
away and manhandle them a
bit! I tell them I am
only acting as I don't
want their mothers saying
that Su Pollard is an old
bag who hits their
daughters."